No Whining, No Flowers

In 2003, the Cornell University Chorus launched a commissioning project known informally as "No Whining, No Flowers". The goal of the project is to expand the contemporary repertoire for treble choirs by commissioning pieces from women composers using text from women writers. Furthermore, these texts are intended to explore topics that differ from the traditional treble choir repertoire themes of "Oh woe, my man has left me," and "La la, look at all the pretty flowers" - hence the title of the project. Please see below for more information about our recently commissioned pieces.

2016-2017: Perception Test and Jump the chromosomeBY Mia Makaroff

Mia Makaroff's Perception Test beautifully captures the scientist’s world-view, constant oscillation between inquiry and wonder. Jump the Chromosome celebrates the pathbreaking career of Cornell’s own Barbara McClintock, who won the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine in 1983 for her discovery of transposons, also known as “jumping genes.” As a nod to McClintock’s own interest in jazz, Makaroff has set both poems in a lighter, popular style.

2015-2016: Malala by Adrienne Albert

Adrienne Albert celebrates the life and words of women's education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai in this year’s commission. At the time of the piece’s premiere, Malala was the same age as the Chorus’s youngest members.

2013-2014: Onion Days by Flannery Cunningham

Flannery Cunningham, a recent Mitchell Scholar, celebrates the dignity of working women from both sides of the Atlantic in her composition Onion Days. The text combines a Carl Sandburg poem with a Scottish waulking tune (waulking is the act of tossing and beating newly woven cloth, to strengthen it).

2011-2012: Voices of the Hills by Sally Lamb McCune

2010-2011: To Music by David Conte

This year, the Chorus commissioned a special piece in honor of Chorus alumna Heather Walters, '81, who passed away on August 27, 2009. Entitled To Music, the piece was composed by Cornell alumnus David Conte with text by Henry Van Dyke.

2009-2010: A Book of Spells by Libby Larsen

This piece is a set of five movements--spells--in the spirit of Halloween, the day the work was premiered. The text is by Z.E. Budapest. Larsen is a Grammy award winning composer and co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composer's Forum.

2008-2009: Chant for Great Compassion by Abbie Betinis

The text for Chant for Great Compassion, both English and Chinese transliteration, comes from Qiu Jin, Wang Erbei, and the traditional 'Great Compassion Mantra.' Betinis is a "most audacious... edgy and thrilling" young female composer known for setting texts of various cultures and time periods.

2007-2008: Juggler of Day by Augusta Read Thomas

The text for Juggler of Day comes from two Emily Dickinson poems. Augusta Read Thomas is a well known composer and teacher of music. She was the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2006, and one of the two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2007.

The text for Song of Perfect Propriety comes from a poem by Dorothy Parker. Carol Barnett's music has been called audacious and engaging. Her varied catalog includes works for solo voice, piano, chorus, diverse chamber ensembles, orchestra, and wind ensemble.

2005-2006: A Voice by Edie Hill

The text for A Voice comes from a poem by May Sarton. Edie Hill is a nationally acclaimed composer whose vocal and instrumental works are frequently performed both internationally and throughout the U.S.

2004-2005: The Sadness of the Sea by Sally Lamb McCune

The Sadness of the Sea is a three movement piece with 2007 text derived from the works of Lydia Huntley Sigourney, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and the traditional children's tune "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"